Background: Chronic Heart failure (CHF)constitutes a major health problem, representing the leading cause of hospitalization in people over 65 years old. Several studies have associated the Mediterranean diet with a cardioprotective function, improving prognosis in patients with high cardiovascular risk. Our main objective is to determine whether greater adherence to the Mediterranean diet is associated with a lower severity of CHF, depending on the number of heart failure decompensations and complications of the disease.
Methods: The study was a single-center restrospective cohort study conducted at the Virgen del Rocío Hospital (Seville). Adherence to a Mediterranean diet was determined by the Mediterranean Diet Adherence Screener (MEDAS) in patients with chronic heart failure in a state of clinical stability, and their cardiac and analytical profiles were evaluated.
Results: Seventy-two patients were included (35 with high adherence to the Mediterranean diet and 37 with low adherence). The average age was 81.29 ± 0.86 years. A trend towards fewer cardiac decompensations (1,49 ± 0,14 vs 1,92 ± 0,17), p= 0,054) and lower NT-proBNP values 2897,02 ± 617,16 vs 5227,96 ± 1047,12; p = 0,088) was observed in patients with high adherence compared to those with low adherence to the Mediterranean diet.
Conclusions: Our results suggest that patients with CHF and high adherence to the Mediterranean diet have a tendency towards improved cardiac profile, indicated by fewer decompensations and lower NT-proBNP levels. Future clinical trials are needed to substantiate these hypotheses.